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The effect of problem-solving skills on blood glucose regulation and disease management in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus

  • Tuba Mutluer EMAIL logo , Herdem Aslan Genç , Tuana Demir , Çağrı Demirel , Çiçek Nur Bakır , Işıl Necef , Serra Muradoğlu , Gül Yeşiltepe Mutlu and Şükrü Hatun
Published/Copyright: August 28, 2023
Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism
From the journal Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism Volume 36 Issue 10

Abstract

Objectives

This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between problem-solving skills, glucose regulation, and disease management in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) as well as the role of depression in this association.

Methods

The participants (n=54) were recruited from a diabetes camp. Problem-solving inventory (PSI), Beck depression inventory (BDI), and diabetes self-management profile (DSMP) were administered as tests. Forty-six participants who have been diagnosed with T1DM for at least a year and completed the survey were included in the analyses. Participants were categorized into high and low depression groups based on the median split. Student’s t-test was used to detect demographic differences in groups. Linear regression models were used to examine the association between PSI, HbA1c, and DSMP. Regressions for PSI and DSMP were repeated in low and high-depression groups.

Results

Of the 46 participants with T1DM, 52 % were female, with a mean age of 13.96 ± 1.94 (range 10–17). Avoidant and monitoring style of problem solving as well as the total score of PSI significantly predicted HbA1c levels. Impulsive and avoidant style of problem solving, problem-solving confidence, and total scores of PSI significantly predicted DSMP (p<0.05). The high depression group had a significantly higher DSMP score than the low depression group (p=0.001), with no difference in HbA1c levels (p=0.968). When the DSMP regressions were repeated, no significant associations were seen in the low depression group. Avoidant style of problem solving, problem-solving confidence, and the total score of PSI significantly predicted DSMP in the high depression group (p<0.005).

Conclusions

Problem solving-skills are essential in children with T1DM for a successful disease management. Depression modulates the association between the problem-solving and self-management profile.

Keywords: depression; diabetes self-management; problem solving; type 1 diabetes
Corresponding author: Tuba Mutluer, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, Koç University School of Medicine, Koç Üniversitesi Hastanesi Davutpaşa Caddesi No: 4 Zeytinburnu, Istanbul 34450, Türkiye, Phone: +905056228693, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the children with type 1 DM who participated in our research and their families, the valuable diabetes camp staff who organized the camp, and the students of Koç University medical school and psychology who did not meet the criteria for being an author in the process but contributed in any part of the study.

  1. Research ethics: The study was approved by the Koç University Institutional Review Board of Research and Ethics (2016.166.IRB2.093).

  2. Informed consent: The informed consent form was obtained from both the children and parents.

  3. Author contributions: Tuba Mutluer made a significant contribution to the concept or design of the article; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the article, drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content and approved the version to be published. Herdem Aslan Genç drafted the article, statistical analysis, and critical revision for important intellectual content. Tuana Demir and Çağrı Demirel worked on the draft especially on the introduction part of the article. Çiçek Nur Bakır contributed to the final reading of the draft, reviewing the analyses, rearranging the tables, and submitting to the journal. Işıl Necef contributed or interpretation of data for the article, and statistical analyzing. Serra Muradoğlu worked on the introduction part in terms of endocrinological psychology. Gül Yeşiltepe Mutlu and Şükrü Hatun contributed to the forming the hypothesis of the study, planning, facilitating the implementation and especially endocrine aspect of the draft.

  4. Competing interests: The authors have no competing of interest to declare.

  5. Research funding: The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.

  6. Data availability: Data is available upon request from the authors.

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Received: 2023-06-14
Accepted: 2023-08-09
Published Online: 2023-08-28
Published in Print: 2023-10-26

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/jpem-2023-0282
Keywords for this article
depression; diabetes self-management; problem solving; type 1 diabetes

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Reviews
  3. Artificial Intelligence (AI) in pediatric endocrinology
  4. Relationship between vitamin D deficiency and neonatal hypocalcemia: a meta-analysis
  5. Original Articles
  6. Associated autoimmune thyroid diseases in children and adolescents with type one diabetes in Jordan
  7. The therapeutic effect of oral desmopressin lyophilisate formulation in children with central diabetes insipidus
  8. Effect of complete suppression of androstenedione on auxological development in prepubertal patients with classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia
  9. Safety and efficacy of the structured onboarding steps and initiation protocol for MiniMed™ 780G system among an Egyptian cohort of young people living with type 1 diabetes
  10. The effect of problem-solving skills on blood glucose regulation and disease management in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus
  11. Depression, anxiety, eating problems, and diabulimia risk in adolescents with type 1 diabetes: a case–control study
  12. Genotyping in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia by sequencing of newborn bloodspot samples
  13. Case Reports
  14. A pediatric case of autosomal dominant hypocalcemia type 2
  15. Very severe hypertriglyceridemia complicating pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment: a call for management guidelines
  16. Management of acute metabolic crisis in TANGO2 deficiency: a case report
  17. Novel PAX4 variant in a child and family with diabetes mellitus – case report and review of the literature
  18. Graves’ disease after COVID mRNA vaccination for the first time diagnosed in adolescence-case report. Cause and effect relationship or simple coincidence?
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